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It's a well established thing now. The era of home VR is upon us. Starting off with a plucky Luckey's kickstarter back in 2012, Virtual Reality has slowly made its way in to the main stream. Following a series of development kits, each increasing in quality and features, the Oculus Rift eventually launched in 2016, followed swiftly by the Vive. Lots of people argued; some citing the Vive's motion controllers and lighthouse solution to tracking as superior, others preferred the screen of the Rift and the initial focus on seated gaming, no pack in motion controllers and some exclusive content.

They're both awesome though and Oculus soon released their own expensive motion controllers which may or may not be better than the Vive's. It's sort of like discussing that this awesome chocolate cake is better than that awesome chocolate cake because it has different sprinkles though. So none of that "console war" style nonsense here please, we ain't playing favourites.

Then late 2016 Sony released the best headset, with the coolest blue glowing lights:

PSVR (PS4)(This is me, getting ready to punch anyone who starts console war nonsense, or doesn't agree the PSVR is the best)

So this is the PSVR, it's got an awesome head band that's really easy to slip on and off, which is fantastic for when you're scared shitless in Resident Evil VII. It also works with the Playstation Move controllers, which instantly makes it better than all the other VR motion controllers because everyone of course has these to hand and there's no chance there'd be a shortage allowing for people to sell them ridiculously overpriced on Ebay. Oh and you need the Playstation Camera too. And a PS4. Actually, best make that a PS4 Pro. And a house to put it all in.

There were some doubts about the PS4 being able to pump out decent VR visuals given the relatively high spec required for PC VR games. I jest above about the need for a PS4 Pro but honestly, my base PS4 worked great and it's definitely a good experience. Sony have done a good job.

The screen is made of magic pixie dust so it means you don't see the "screen door effect" like you do on the Vive and Rift (visible space between pixels). Ok, instead you get a moire effect on dark backgrounds, but that's just a bit like film grain, which everyone likes, right?

The library of games is pretty impressive for what's almost a new platform launch. There's enough there to keep most people interested, though as with a lot of VR games they tend to be more tech demos and experiences. That said, as a huge light gun fan, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is my game of the year.

Suggested games:

Batman: VR

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Job Simulator (Also PC)

Thumper (Also PC)

Resident Evil VII

Upcoming games:

Dirt (VR) (Also PC)

Farscape

Arizona Sunshine (Port confirmed by devs)

Oculus Rift (PC)(There are some sort of fancy motion controllers, but they weren't within the first 4 google image search results)

So this is the headset that started it all, if you forget about all previous VR en-devours. Initially it required a pretty beefy machine to hit the minimum spec, but thanks to fancy technology involving time warps and flux capacitors that minimum spec has been lowered and more people can get involved.

Undoubtedly a high quality headset, with built in headphones. It uses cameras to track what you do, when you eat and what colour your eyes are. And the headset/controllers. You can buy more cameras to help cover more of your room. Initially packed in with an Xbox One controller it also now supports additional motion controllers, which don't look awesome and which I'm not totally, 100% jealous of.

Suggested games:

Raw Data

SUPERHOT VR

Elite Dangerous

Arizona Sunshine

Vive (PC)(Green screen sold separately)

Just as everyone was getting super excited for the Rift, Valve piped up saying they were partnering up with HTC and releasing a headset themselves. It's designed more around the concept of 'room scale' and by all accounts you need a spare wing of your mansion to use it. Or a small square in your living room, depends who you listen to. Anyway, it came with some cool motion controllers. It tracks using lighthouses, which means people can't see you in your pants, but conversely if you don't live near the sea you probably don't have one close by, so you're out of luck.

Suggested games:

See Oculus list above.

Half Life 3?

Anyway, discuss VR here. But let's not argue about which headset is best, because we all know it's the PSVR. Ok?

Amazon was going to take 3-5 days so I just went to Gamestop and bought a Vive last night. Set it up, downloaded Beat Saber, Valve Lab, and Rec Room.

Before I left to pick it up, I ordered the advanced audio headset. Yesterday I ended up using a good set of headphones and it felt fine, though not as easy to adjust to different heads. Anyone with opinions on whether I should keep the advanced one or return it?

Amazon was going to take 3-5 days so I just went to Gamestop and bought a Vive last night. Set it up, downloaded Beat Saber, Valve Lab, and Rec Room.

Before I left to pick it up, I ordered the advanced audio headset. Yesterday I ended up using a good set of headphones and it felt fine, though not as easy to adjust to different heads. Anyone with opinions on whether I should keep the advanced one or return it?

Keep it. Two reasons. Firstly, you won't be bothered much by it by now, but 3 months down the line having a two-step process to put on or remove the headset (headset first, then headphones, reverse it to take it off) will annoy the shit out of you. So, convenience is a big one. Secondly, the fit on the deluxe strap, by all reports, is far better than the standard one, in particular the way it shifts some of the weight balance to the rear, making the overall headset less front-heavy. Again, not something you'll notice when you're busy being distracted by the shininess of your new virtual realities, so you probably haven't noticed it yet, but in time you will.

Amazon was going to take 3-5 days so I just went to Gamestop and bought a Vive last night. Set it up, downloaded Beat Saber, Valve Lab, and Rec Room.

Before I left to pick it up, I ordered the advanced audio headset. Yesterday I ended up using a good set of headphones and it felt fine, though not as easy to adjust to different heads. Anyone with opinions on whether I should keep the advanced one or return it?

Ok thanks. I was leaning toward keeping it but now I won’t think about it anymore.

I also bought a set of stands for the sensors, not realizing that the Vive comes with mounting brackets which will work just fine for me, so the stands I will return.

Yeah, I got the stands because my living room has brick walls, and I didn't want to get everything I'd need to mount in brick, but it's definitely less convenient (in multiple ways) than just mounting them.

Ok thanks. I was leaning toward keeping it but now I won’t think about it anymore.

I also bought a set of stands for the sensors, not realizing that the Vive comes with mounting brackets which will work just fine for me, so the stands I will return.

Yeah, I got the stands because my living room has brick walls, and I didn't want to get everything I'd need to mount in brick, but it's definitely less convenient (in multiple ways) than just mounting them.

I had thought I might want to move the setup to another room for parties, but then I realized that meant moving my PC and I'll just never bother doing it. It's in a finished basement where I have no issues mounting stuff to the walls, so that will work the best by far.

So, yeah. The deluxe audio strap is good and makes a significant difference, especially when you're swapping the headset between multiple people, which I think will happen a fair amount. Glad I went that route, though it kind of feels like something that should be part of the system by default.

So, yeah. The deluxe audio strap is good and makes a significant difference, especially when you're swapping the headset between multiple people, which I think will happen a fair amount. Glad I went that route, though it kind of feels like something that should be part of the system by default.

Beat saber and Google Earth were big hits with my sister in law.

Dang, I didn't want to drop an extra hundred on it, but you're making it sound really good.

Something I’ve been meaning to ask, but keep forgetting. Is Beat Saber super loud for anyone else? On the Rift at least leaving it at the default volume, it’s WAY louder than any other game. Not a big deal to adjust in game, but I’m just wondering if anyone else has noticed that, either on the Rift or other headsets.

So, yeah. The deluxe audio strap is good and makes a significant difference, especially when you're swapping the headset between multiple people, which I think will happen a fair amount. Glad I went that route, though it kind of feels like something that should be part of the system by default.

Beat saber and Google Earth were big hits with my sister in law.

Dang, I didn't want to drop an extra hundred on it, but you're making it sound really good.

What's weird for me is that when I used a Vive for the first time this weekend, my friend had it. It was great, but when I got my own and used good headphones, I initially didn't really think I needed it. Then it showed up yesterday and I started using it again and yeah, it makes a big difference. The balance thing wasn't that big of a deal - I was using headphones that were keeping things pretty snug. But it was a second cable drooping behind me that was getting wound up a bit with the Vive cable and getting it on and off was a little cumbersome. Last night my wife, SIL and I were swapping around playing Beat Saber and it was super simple and really easy to adjust to different heads.

Hah hah! That was awesome. I never knew there was a version with her actually in it.

As a senior in high school in the late 1990's, a band I was in did that song for either the Talent show or Battle of the Bands. At the time I had no idea that Natalie Inbruglia's version was a cover of an existing song.

And it mentions that the walls in the demo are clear so that the controllers and headset can still be tracked. I always thought Vive/Rift used some sort of wireless magical proximity sensors or something?

I'm just trying to figure out if the systems aren't actually that different from PSVR in terms of the way they track (yes, I know Vive/Rift tracking is superior to PSVR since PSVR has only a single camera option and Rift/Vive use two or more)

And it mentions that the walls in the demo are clear so that the controllers and headset can still be tracked. I always thought Vive/Rift used some sort of wireless magical proximity sensors or something?

I'm just trying to figure out if the systems aren't actually that different from PSVR in terms of the way they track (yes, I know Vive/Rift tracking is superior to PSVR since PSVR has only a single camera option and Rift/Vive use two or more)

So, yeah. The deluxe audio strap is good and makes a significant difference, especially when you're swapping the headset between multiple people, which I think will happen a fair amount. Glad I went that route, though it kind of feels like something that should be part of the system by default.

Beat saber and Google Earth were big hits with my sister in law.

Dang, I didn't want to drop an extra hundred on it, but you're making it sound really good.

And it mentions that the walls in the demo are clear so that the controllers and headset can still be tracked. I always thought Vive/Rift used some sort of wireless magical proximity sensors or something?

I'm just trying to figure out if the systems aren't actually that different from PSVR in terms of the way they track (yes, I know Vive/Rift tracking is superior to PSVR since PSVR has only a single camera option and Rift/Vive use two or more)

Rift tracking is a fancier EyeToy with multiple cameras and infrared beacons instead of visible light.

Vive tracking is some crazy magic calculus shit that compares the time between IR flood flashes and IR beam sweeps from "known" (lighthouse) positions on several sensors attached to the controller and headset.

There is a lot more crazy magic in the vive tracking that that article doesn't really do justice to. There are a couple videos on reverse-engineering the bluetooth protocol they are using that are also pretty eye-opening, and there's a presentation from one of the lighthouse developers that goes into more of the math behind it.

[double-edit]

This is not to say that any are better or worse than the others. Just that PSVR and Rift Tracking are in the same family of computational problems, while the Vive approaches it from a completely different direction and is an interesting engineering case study.

Finished Moss. Almost made me cry at one point. Definitely a good example of the way VR can have a greater effect on you in a much shorter time.

Which is, really, the only complaint I have about Moss. Very short, as have been most VR experiences. Hopefully the development of VR software of that quality is already profitable, and as more people adopt the tech, games will get longer.

Finished Moss. Almost made me cry at one point. Definitely a good example of the way VR can have a greater effect on you in a much shorter time.

Which is, really, the only complaint I have about Moss. Very short, as have been most VR experiences. Hopefully the development of VR software of that quality is already profitable, and as more people adopt the tech, games will get longer.

That's awesome that you liked it! The point where you almost cried was it:

near the very end? at one point I believe the player is made to think Quill dies

As for story length, at least Book 2 is in development!

Long VR games are rare. Obviously there's Skyrim and Fallout... Doom was kinda long. My favorite long-ish games were RE7 and Farpoint.

Yeah Moss was great. One of the things I really appreciated was the set design. In all the platforming 3rd person perspective VR games I've played, the perspective makes each set seem really small, like you're looking into a little world inside of a box or something. Moss embraces that because everything IS really small.